Does pending affect your available balance?
Daniel Santos
Updated on January 28, 2026
Do These Pending Charges Count Against My Available Balance? These charges are not counted as part of the outstanding balance in your account, but do count against your available credit or bank balance. If this is a credit card, the pending charge won’t get factor into your balance, so it is not considered a debt yet.
What does pending balance mean on bank account?
Pending transactions are transactions that haven’t been fully processed yet. For example, if you make a purchase with a debit card or credit card, it will almost always show as pending immediately when you view your account online or in a mobile banking app.
Does pending mean the money is in your account?
Pending means a transaction to withdraw money from or add money to your account has been submitted but isn’t complete.
How long can something be pending in your bank account?
What is a pending transaction, and how long can it stay pending? A pending transaction is a recent card transaction that has not yet been fully processed by the merchant. If the merchant doesn’t take the funds from your account, in most cases it will drop back into the account after 7 days.
Does pending mean it went through?
Do Pending Transactions Mean They Went Through or Posted Successfully and are Fully Cleared? Absolutely not. Pending transactions mean exactly what the name implies. But they won’t become fully effective until they are submitted by the merchant, and have fully cleared your account.
What does it mean to have a pending balance on a debit card?
Your bank will be aware of the debit card transactions and reflect it in your pending or account balance. However, the merchant where you used the card may not have submitted the charge for payment yet. In that case, the charge is sitting in pending status. The bank is aware of it and has deducted it from your available balance.
What does it mean to have a pending charge on your checking account?
A pending charge against your checking account represents a transaction that has been presented to your account but has not been processed or paid. This can occur when you make a purchase with a debit card linked to your checking account, in addition to when a check is received by the bank.
How long do pending transactions affect my balance?
How do pending transactions affect my balance? Some card transactions will appear as pending on your account until the payment is fully processed. Generally it takes about 3 to 5 business days to process a transaction, although it can take up to 10 business days or longer.
What does it mean when a debit has posted to your checking account?
The Definition of Posting. After the posting is complete, your account carries a new current balance, which some banks call a ledger balance. The current balance is the amount of money in your account after the bank has processed the day’s credits and debits.